Cupids Coincidences

10 August 2009

Forty years ago this week, two young couples, Seamus & Ann Keane from Kerry and John Joe & Breege Coyne from Westmeath were honeymooning in Salthill Galway.  Little did either couple know back then as they walked along the promenade in Galway, that Cupid would bring both couples together, 40 years on, to celebrate joint wedding anniversaries and also another major occasion for both their families.  As it was last Friday, 7th August, on the same day that both couples were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversaries, they also celebrated the wedding of their two children, Catriona Keane and John Coyne at the Ballygarry House Hotel & Spa, one of Ireland's leading Wedding Venues. 

It was an amazing coincidence that was made even more special by the fact that John and Catriona celebrated their wedding at the very same hotel in Kerry as Seamus and Ann had done 40 years to the day - at Ballygarry House Hotel & Spa.  Catriona and John's wedding will now continue a tradition spanning four decades, with all 5 daughters as well as their mother and father celebrating their weddings at the same hotel.

Padraig McGillicuddy, General Manager who was on hand to welcome the newlyweds to the hotel said "To think that 40 years to the day, my father Owen, was in my shoes for Catriona's Mum and Dad wedding is amazing.  Seeing the family continue with this tradition is testimony to our reputation as a  leading wedding venue, which  started with my grandfather Gene back in the 1950's and continued with my father through the ‘80's and ‘90's."

The very proud mother of the bride, Ann Keane added "Back when Seamus and I got married at The Ballygarry, then known as The Manhattan, it was ‘the place' to celebrate your wedding and it remains so to this day.  Our family would not contemplate family celebrations elsewhere.  Both Seamus and I remember Padraig's father, Owen McGillicuddy looking after us all so well on the day.  We celebrated with the most fabulous banquet and danced the night away on the very same dance floor as John and Catriona did today.  To see Padraig looking after Catriona so well brings back so many memories, it could have been yesterday."

The final words must go to the Bride and Groom whose union everyone was celebrating on Friday.   The couple who met  in 2006 at mutual friends wedding were relaxing the following day at the hotel before preparing to depart on their dream honeymoon to Italy.   The new Mrs Coyne, Catriona stated "It was an absolute dream of a day, from start to finish, made so much more special due to the special memories we all have of the hotel.  We knew from start to finish that the team would make it so special for us, as they did for my four sisters over the past few years as well as my Mum and Dad back in 1969.  Making it even more special was the fact that we were celebrating under the same roof as my parents did 40 years ago.  It is a memory that we will treasure for the rest of our lives and a tradition that I hope the next generation will keep going as we  look forward to  celebrating many more family weddings at Ballygarry  for years and years to come."